Catching Up With Lorenzo WashingtonRollTide.com recently had a chance to sit down with defensive lineman Lorenzo Washington and get his take on a variety of topics. The Logansville, Ga.native talked about everything from the defense under coach Nick Saban to his hobbies and off the fi

RollTide.com recently had a chance to sit down with defensive lineman Lorenzo Washington and get his take on a variety of topics. The Logansville, Ga.native talked about everything from the defense under coach Nick Saban to his hobbies and off the field activities.

RollTide:You’ve taken on a bigger role with defense this year. Talk about your starting role and what you’ve been able to bring to the team.Lorenzo: Everyday, the whole time I’ve been here, the starting point of the defense is up front setting the line of scrimmage. I try to take every practice, every snap going in there and trying to re-establish the line of scrimmage. A key point that Coach Saban is always talking about and the rest of the defensive staff is doing your job and executing your assignments. So I try to go in there and make sure I do my job and re-establish the line of scrimmage while at the same time trying to make plays or do what I can to make plays.

RollTide:Talk about Coach Nick Saban and Coach Bo Davis have been able to teach you guys on defense this year.Lorenzo: Coach Davis actually played the same position that I played, but they’re experienced, they know exactly what they are talking about. Everything that they try to teach you helps you in the game. We rep out drills and stuff like that all day everyday to work our technique, so when it comes to the game, we just do it out of memory.

RollTide:You play a tough position. Talk about what it’s like going up against big strong guys every week and what you do to prepare for that from a physical standpoint.Lorenzo: It’s in the trenches you know, so I’m going against some big people, 330 or 340 pound guys, but luckily for me our offensive line isn’t small either. Going against Antoine Caldwell at center, he’s one of the best centers in the country, Marlon Davis, Justin Britt, I go against those guys everyday. That really helps me for sure, but it’s a tough position and really it’s all mental. You can be 250 or 350 and play inside. It’s all mental; it’s about want to.

RollTide:Talk a little bit about yourself like your hobbies, what you do to relax and who you hang out with on the team off the field.Lorenzo: Off the field, especially this year I’ve really just been focusing on trying to graduate. I go over a lot of film and stuff like that. When I’m not doing either of those, I like to play video games, download music, listen to music, hang out with some of the defensive linemen like Brandon Diederick, Brandon Fanning, and some of the other guys like Antoine Caldwell and Darren Mustin, people like that.

RollTide:Who has the best nickname on the team? Do you have a nickname and if so what?Lorenzo: Oh man, I don’t know who has the best nickname, but Rolando, he has a bunch of them. He’s got people calling him “Baby Ro” right now. Everybody just calls me Zo, or Big Zo, something like that.

RollTide:What’s your dream scenario in a football game? Is it picking off a pass, making a big hit for a fumble, picking up a fumble for a touchdown? What would be the dream scenario for Lorenzo Washington?Lorenzo: My dream scenario would be making a big hit when the other team is about to score that causes a fumble, then recovering the fumble and returning it for a touchdown.